At today’s MMS session on the SLD Solution Accelerator they announced that the release of this new version for R2 will RTM at the same time as R2. The beta is available on Connect if you are looking at the RC of OpsMgr R2.
https://connect.microsoft.com/programdetails.aspx?ProgramDetailsID=2249
V1 used SRS but v2 uses WSS (the free version of SharePoint that comes with Windows Server) and makes the template more friendly and easier to deploy.
Brad Anderson did this morning’s keynote. This was more focused than yesterdays but was still quite low energy with not much excitement or feedback from the audience. Most of his talk was futures and about focusing on the client and end up with a demo of the next version of Config Manager showing that an application can be set to follow a user on a number of devices and use different ways of presenting that app depending on the device. If the PC is the users primary device then it installs, if it is not a primary device then a Remote App session shortcut is presented and on some devices they will just get a message saying that the subscribed app is not available on this device.
Service Manager was demoed and that is building up for a release next year.
My old colleague, Jeff Wettlauffer, demonstrated the new OS upgrade method of SCCM installing Windows 7 RC on XP but keeping all the data on the PC without having to copy the data up to a server and back down. Also showed the app compatibility toolkit and then getting that old app to run on Med-V which is basically a copy of Virtual PC with XP but seamless so that the user only sees the app.
The most interesting demo was the new System Center Online tool which builds on WSUS and is like a web based version of WSUS, ForeFront and Config Manager in the cloud that you can log onto and then start managing your desktops with this tool. No servers to buy and no software to buy, install configure and look after. I can see this being very popular in small organisations if they get the pricing right.
Key dates for next major versions
For 2011
For 2010
See slide http://www.scom2k7.com/system-center-roadmap/
No mention of System Center Capacity Manager!
At the keynote at the MMS they announced that OpsMgr 2007 R2 would be available in 30 days.
Remember, R2 is only free to organisations that have bought OpsMgr 2007 with Software Assurance. If you have OpsMgr without SA then you would need to buy new licences for all your management servers and agents. From what I have seen so far R2 is good with some nice new features and improvements. And for SA organisations and buying new R2 is a given. But I am having trouble envisaging a killer feature that would mean an organisation would pay for new licences rather than just wait for the next full version which I guess will be OpsMgr 2011. Especially in the current economic climate.
The biggest new feature is support for UNIX and Linux. But large organisations tend to have a separate team from the Windows team to look after those servers with their own tool. Smaller organisations may only have a few Linux servers and so would have tool to manage those if they are critical or an add-in from Jalasoft or Quest to monitor those from OpsMgr. So while it is a great addition I can not see it driving sales of OpsMgr to R2. I would be interested in hearing about organisations that are planning to upgrade.
I arrived at Las Vegas on Saturday so I had some time to get over the 8 hour time difference. It was nice to be able to walk around on Sunday in the sunshine. The Venetian is a great hotel and it is a lot quicker to get to the convention from the rooms compared to when they held it at Mandalay Bay.
Monday is not the official first day but they hold a number of hands on labs and some sessions. But to be honest, although the event does not officially start until tomorrow with the keynote, with the number of sessions running and attendees around it looked like a normal day. At one point it looked like there was not going to be food or drinks but they brought them out for lunch. Although they way they did the sessions meant that there was only 15 mins for lunch.
I did a couple of hands on labs this morning and then a series of sessions by Brian Wren based on the concept of creating an MP. I wish Brian had done this session 2 years ago! The labs were OK but there was some bits which were just standard OpsMgr and not new for R2 which I found frustrating but may have been good for people new to the product. I still find it amazing that they create these labs with mistakes in them when they are showcasing to a large audience. I did a couple of HOLs a few years ago and I got a friend who was not in IT to walk through to ensure that there was no mistakes and I had not jumped steps. Quality control please.
One thing though that I did notice is that the OpsMgr R2 console in the HOL was very quick even though it was running as a VM. Very promising. I am compiling a list of likes and dislikes as I get more exposure to the product that I will turn into a post later.
I was about to install the HP MPs but thought that I would check and found that there are new versions on the HP site since my last download but there are no dates on the web site. The new versions are 1.2 for Proliant and 1.7 for Blade Systems.
The Blade MP was dated 24th Nov 08 after unzipping and the Proliant was 19th Dec 08. I did not see any announcements of these and the MP Catalog is still showing the previous versions dated March 2008.
Why isn’t the catalog updated? Is it Microsoft’s responsibility or is it up to HP to tell Microsoft? Either way someone needs to take responsibility as these MPs are months old.
